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This just in: It appears Canadians were not solely responsible for giving Stephen Harper a majority government in the federal election.

Behind the scenes, Mark Bowden made us do it.

The British-born, Toronto-based body-language expert worked with Harper on his TV-debate optics in an effort to make him appear more statesmanlike and confident to our unconscious eye.

The results speak for themselves.

It seems far more Canadians were suddenly able to see Harper’s previously elusive humanity and trustworthiness, a message delivered through gestures that warmed him to us, says Bowden, whose client list includes international CEOs and politicians.

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Watch the debate clips now and note the placement of Harper’s hands, cupped and open, directly at stomach height. Bowden refers to this as the “Truth Plane” — a visual expression that communicates the right mix of composed, competent resolve and level-headed credibility.

If the universal language of non-verbal communication can turn Harper, noted for his cool, I-shake-hands-with-my-son stiffness, into a model of warmth and charm capable of shattering years of Canadian political deadlock, consider the possibilities for regular guys around the office or down at the pub.

Listen to Bowden and you can trace a straight line between us and our slimy prehistoric pre-selves. Most of our entrenched, hard-wired thinking dates back millions of years. And yet, here it is, conjuring dismissive contempt from our boss this morning and the gorgeous brunette from payroll in the cafeteria at lunch.

The message here: We are unwitting non-verbal stutterers.

At our most primal, Bowden explains, our wordless communication to others inspires one of two instant reactions in their reptilian brains: approach or avoid. We are, to others, a threat or a source of food and comfort.

“We decide within fractions of a second if this person is here to feed me, is a threat to me, a potential mate or, if none of those, is simply of no interest to me at all,” he says.

Note: If you, like me, usually elicit the latter response, simply know that evolution is cruel to those it does not favour.

So consider, for example, the hidden power of the eyebrow raise.

Like an invisible hand reaching out to a stranger, the slight arching of the brow represents an ancient shout out, a welcoming olive branch, a signal of hope and fidelity.

I tried it.

Walking through a throng of midday Toronto humanity, nearly every soul firmly subscribed to the urban code commanding all eyes to be directed downward, a rare moment of eye contact supported by a brow raise on my part revealed the power to startle and gently lure.

“People will stop and pour through their mental Rolodex to try to figure out if they know you,” says Bowden. “To the reptilian brain, it says, ‘You know me, we’re friends.’ ”

The effect is intoxicating. Glances are returned. An occasional smile is procured.

That said, in my case it was difficult to determine whether the recipients of the gesture were always appreciative. Some mastery over the subtle intricacies of the technique may be required. I’m fairly sure I creeped some people out.

One other note: The eyebrow move is not available to those who have had Botox injected into their foreheads, says Bowden. True. It seems the numbing of facial muscles prevents the required level of non-verbal signalling.

Then, there’s the Harper “Truth Plane” move that washed over the collective “we” prior to our unprecedented declaration of long-hidden love for him.

Bowden would say our reptilian brains saw something different in him during the debate and campaign.

Harper appeared to be the candidate “most assertive and in control,” says Bowden. “If you ask people what they thought of him, they’ll say he was prime ministerial. I think he did brilliantly.”

Be careful, though: You can do it wrong. Really wrong.

Move your hands to the upper chest and the words you speak change in meaning, he contends. Suddenly, you are more passionate and animated. This may be fine if you’re arguing soccer with Italians, of course. But it’s probably not properly played at job interviews.

Move your hands beneath the waist line and you are entering the “Grotesque Plane,” according to Bowden. Here your words don a darker, more covert, animalistic meaning that has the effect of sending your listener into depression or sleep. Use sparingly.

There are other classically male moves that trip us up without us saying a word.

Witness the chest puffers. Under stress, we chaps tend to inflate our chests, a DNA-rooted self-defence mechanism that turns us into instant dicks. We take up more space. We move from side to side. We lean in with our foreheads. We invade personal space. We become close talkers.

The subtext of this animal communication is simple: To make the other guy, who has designs on your client or the beautiful woman on the next bar stool, retreat.

More likely, of course, is that the client or beautiful woman will beat the retreat.

The cruel irony here is that our non-verbal instincts, which have safely conveyed us to this point in human history, are killing us now. In this male body language of adversarialism lies social and professional starvation.

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